[SC Swamp Fox]

"....a child born in the USA needs to apply for his passport before leaving the country, not afterward."

It's not a major point but I don't believe that was true at the time. I traveled to Italy in 1965 and returned in 1969 with my parents. I don't know what he age cut-off was but as a young minor I was allowed to travel with my parents on their passport.

[curiosity]

I don't know what he age cut-off was but as a young minor I was allowed to travel with my parents on their passport.

Nope. If you didn't have your own passport, then you must have travelled with them on a family passport, which would have listed you and any other children in the family, and which could only be otained before going abroad.

[DDLL]

“I don’t know what he age cut-off was but as a young minor I was allowed to travel with my parents on their passport.”

1962 - ‘66 My young sister traveled on my mother’s passport.

[barb-tex]

If memory serves. Minors can travel on the parents passport but the must be Listed for identification

[tom h]

"I traveled to Italy in 1965 and returned in 1969 with my parents. I don't know what he age cut-off was but as a young minor I was allowed to travel with my parents on their passport."

FYI, back then a child would be included on his mother's passport. Meaning, the photo was of mother and child. Trust me, there was an official document certifying you were an American citizen, it just wasn't separate from your mother's.